www.unitbv.ro

3 July 2023

The European Commission has approved the funding for another four years of the UNITA Consortium, in which Transilvania University of Brașov also belongs.

The total funding of the Consortium amounts to 14.4 million Euros.

UNITA Alliance – “Universitas Montium”, of which Transilvania University of Brașov is part as a full-fledged member as of this year, will continue its activity until 2027, contributing to the strategy of reconfiguring higher education in the European Union.

Transilvania University of Brașov has joined the UNITA Alliance since 2021, as an associated member. Starting this year, along with another 9 European universities, Transilvania University is a full-fledged member.

As a member of the UNITA Consortium, Transilvania University of Brașov was allocated a funding of 1.2 million Euros in order to achieve its objectives within the Consortium: to support the integration and unification activities of the European community, to increase the quality of international mobility and of the educational and research act, as well as to strengthen the European cultural identity and values.

UNITA is an alliance of universities in mountain areas or on the border of the national territory, which also have in common the fact that they are located in geographical areas where Romance languages are spoken. In the Consortium's philosophy, the linguistic component is an important element of cohesion. Its members’ allegiance to the European Neo-Latin community can be a catalyst for integration into a homogeneous scientific community, capable of creating hubs oriented towards sustainable development, circular economy and preservation of cultural heritage.

The UNITA Alliance – “Universitas Montium” is guaranteed continuity until 2027, following the approval of its request to the European Commission. The Consortium formed by higher education institutions from several countries will thus remain within the “European Universities” initiative and will contribute to revolutionizing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education.

The European Commission evaluated the first three years of the Alliance’s activity and appreciated the achieved results as valuable. By expanding the membership, the Alliance’s innovative potential increased and also allowed access to the maximum funding offered by the Commission.

The European Union’s strategy aims at increasing the competitiveness of higher education in its countries, by deepening the cooperation between institutions and by mobility of students, academic teaching personnel and support staff. Other objectives include the sharing of physical resources, courses offered by member institutions, expertise, data and infrastructure. Created in 2020, the Consortium had as founding members the University of Beira Interior (Portugal), the University of Zaragoza (Spain), the University of Turin (Italy), the University of Pau et des Pays de L'Adour and the University of Savoie Mont Blanc (France) and the West University of Timișoara (Romania). In September 2021, UNITA expanded with six new partners: the Polytechnic Institute of Guarda (Portugal), the University of Brescia (Italy), the Public University of Navarre (Spain) and Transilvania University of Brașov (Romania), Western Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland) and Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (Ukraine).

In its evaluation report for the first 18 months, the Erasmus+ Agency appreciated UNITA as “clearly on the way to becoming a fully developed European university”.